Kyle Kuzma: Four trade destinations that make sense
As explored in our 2024 NBA Trade Deadline Preview here at HoopsHype, it makes sense for the Washington Wizards to trade veteran forward Kyle Kuzma between now and the deadline date of February 8. Right now, teams are after him. Yet the longer they leave it, the fewer suitors they will have.
It has already been an active month of January on the market, with fellow forwards OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam both dealt from the Toronto Raptors to the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers respectively, and the Miami Heat already having made their move with the acquisition of Terry Rozier. With targets and assets running out, those teams still on the market seeking to buy frontcourt reinforcements might now focus on Kuzma, if they had not done so already.
If they do, they will quickly see that Kuzma is currently halfway through a career year. He has played and started in every game and is recording career-best averages of 21.8 points and 4.4 assists per game, alongside 6.5 rebounds. A career-high 30.6 percent usage percentage versus a career average of 24.3 percent is certainly a large part of it, yet Kuzma has retained his overall sufficiently efficient shooting metrics on this higher volume and combines a useful three-point stroke with dribble-drive possessions, cut-and-dive instincts, transition play, some post touches, and a good handle on the ball for his position. He is good and getting better.
By contrast, the Wizards are bad and not getting better. Not this season, certainly, nor any time soon based on their current construction. If it was not for the history-making badness of the Detroit Pistons – who they just lost to – the Wizards would be the worst team in the NBA, and with their ugly 7-37 record, they might yet still get to the bottom. The contrast between the player and the team is stark.
Does he have to be traded now?
This is not to say that the Wizards must trade Kuzma. But if the team does not make some serious changes, their future will be no better than their bleak present. For all this losing, Washington has little in the way of young players, draft capital, or salary cap freedom to show for it, and it will take top-of-the-lottery picks, exceptional drafting, or likely both to restock the empty cupboard. Their best bet, then, is to get themselves as many opportunities to do that as possible by acquiring draft picks.
To this end, Kuzma stands out as one of the most “sellable” pieces on the roster. In addition to his aforementioned offensive potency, Kuzma’s adequate defensive impact, plug-and-play nature, ability to play on and off the ball, and high-character likeability make for a desirable overall player, especially considering that his new contract declines to near-MLE size by its end.
Furthermore, freeing up the forward spot on the depth chart would provide more minutes and opportunity to Bilal Coulibaly, Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert, the most promising young players that the Wizards have. Washington’s previous trade sagas with John Wall and Bradley Beal showed – admittedly with hindsight – the perils of holding on too long and not selling high. Therefore, while they can wait until the summer and still get a decent return, Kuzma’s value might be as high as it is getting.
With this in mind, here are four possible trade destinations for Kyle Kuzma that could be explored in the two weeks before the deadline.
Cleveland
Trading for Kuzma or anyone like him would not be an indictment of the excellence of the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley/Jarrett Allen pairing. Rather, it would be a deal made to complement them and essentially upgrade on the defensively-solid-offensively-limited Georges Niang and Dean Wade. For that reason, and considering their apt contract sizes, those two would be a logical starting point for any trade.
Cleveland’s financial wiggle room to make a trade is limited. After buying out Ricky Rubio, they sit $3.2 million below the luxury tax line, and with not a lot of salary coming off the books over the summer. That said, a combination of the $8,800,000 of Niang and the $5,709,877 of Wade, paired with the expiring $8,920,794 contract of Isaac Okoro, gets the Cavaliers to a place where they can just – just – acquire Kuzma without straying over the tax threshold.
The problem, though, will be finding the draft capital to get the Wizards what they want. Okoro has some value as a potential re-draft player, but not much, and because of the residual effects of the Donovan Mitchell trade, the Utah Jazz control Cleveland’s draft position until 2029. If picks are the priority for Washington, Cleveland might struggle.
The Cavaliers have been mentioned as enquiring after names such as PJ Washington recently, seeking some frontcourt reinforcements and multi-positional spacing to offset the loss of Kevin Love and the limited shooting range of Mobley. Kuzma is that, and, to a team looking to add to what they have while also budgeting for Mobley’s future deal, the declining nature of his salary will be most useful. The final year of it might be troublesome as constructed, but it is a problem that can be dealt with later. The much more immediate problem is finding the draft capital to get anything done.
Dallas
Most of the top-tier teams in the NBA currently have top-tier power forwards already. If Dallas wants to get to that level, then, an upgrade is likely required, and Kuzma would be that over the trio of Derrick Jones Jr, Maxi Kleber, and Dwight Powell.
All three of those could find themselves in the middle of a Kuzma trade package, one which is not the simplest to assemble considering the Mavericks’ limited expiring mid-size salary and even-more-limited control of their future draft picks. Realistically, in terms of their draft picks, Dallas can offer its 2027 first-round pick and Toronto’s 2025 second-round pick, or perhaps one or more of the trio of Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Josh Green or Jaden Hardy.
All of those should have some appeal to the Wizards, at least. The harder part would be making the finances work. The Mavericks would surely love to just pair the oversized contracts of Kleber and Richaun Holmes ($23,046,020 combined) and tack on the sweeteners from there, but neither contract has positive value, and doing so would mean extra sweeteners.
Nevertheless, there is scope for a deal here, and perhaps some mutual interest. Even though they need center help, frontcourt defense and rebounding – for none of which a player like Kuzma would not be the answer – the potential talent infusion for the Mavericks is apparent, and they could score with anyone. And as will be seen, much as the Wizards may want two first-round picks for Kuzma, other potential suitors may struggle to offer one.
Golden State
It is extremely difficult to know how to approach the floundering Warriors, but what we do know is that for the last decade, their approach has always been to try and power out of any strife. They keep trading and re-trading everyone outside of the Big Three, rarely letting a big contract expire, trying to keep the ball in the air. It therefore follows that if they opt to keep doing that, rather than cutting their enormous costs, then a player like Kuzma could be the lift they need.
However, as is always the case with every Warriors trade, the difficulty is coming up with more futures to mortgage. In an ideal world, a trade package would start with the struggling Andrew Wiggins, whom Kuzma would essentially replace. However, Kuzma is outperforming Wiggins while also on a much cheaper contract; Wiggins’s value is negative, and the Warriors’ limited draft capital cannot offset that. It probably cannot even offset packages of other contracts such as Dario Saric and Jonathan Kuminga, if such a package could even be cobbled together. And, having been acquired from there back in July. Chris Paul is not eligible to be traded to Washington even if everyone involved so desired.
The mission, then, is to get creative. To work out how they can take the few draft assets they have left, the even tighter financial wiggle room given their enormous luxury tax bill, the likes of Kuminga and Moses Moody if so required, and try to figure out a multi-team, needle-moving, season-saving, window-reopening trade. Or at least, doing something with Paul akin to the LA Lakers’ trade of Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz for D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt. Perversely, the bigger the deal is, the easier it might be to get Kuzma to the Warriors.
Sacramento
The Kings were known to be courting Kuzma over the summer, but, after the Wizards outbid them, seemingly opted to return Harrison Barnes instead. Given the seasons to date that Kuzma and the struggling Barnes (a stand-still shooter by this point) have had, this may have been a mistake that they seek to rectify.
Sacramento’s links with Kuzma go back to at least 2021, a time when he was not the same caliber of player that he is today. Barnes’s static play limits what the Kings can do offensively, while Kuzma’s greater aggressiveness (if sometimes excessive) and an array of shots will diversify the sometimes-cold unit. He is even a far better rebounder than Barnes, which is saying something since it is not a strength of Kuzma’s either. If a package starting with Barnes and draft capital is not workable, perhaps one utilizing Kevin Huerter could be, or a combination of Malik Monk, Davion Mitchell, and whatever else. Ideally, though, the Kings would want to work on a package of Barnes, a pick, and next to nothing else.
As much as they have wanted him for all these years, Kuzma does not solve the most pressing issues of this Kings team, which all come defensively. But he is a clear upgrade, available, and a floor-raiser for the team. This might finally be the time.
